College Students Invent Hangover Cure, Spark Controversy

Hoboken, NJ – Is HangoverLyte an offensive depiction of fraternity life… or every college student’s dream come true?

The hangover-busting drink - a senior design project contrived by several business and technology students at Stevens Institute – was reportedly developed by analyzing Pedialyte, an electrolyte solution created to help sick children replenish fluids lost through diarrhea or vomiting.

After testing Pedialyte as a hangover cure, the students then created their own “unique formula” that became the basis of HangoverLyte.

“The students behind the proclaimed hangover cure are marketing something virtually every college senior would be interested in from time to time, but they have a targeted plan to get their product in front of Greek organizations, which the team feels will be great ambassadors for the beverage,” a recent article on the campus website optimistically stated.

That’s not exactly the way it turned out.

On Friday, the Stevens Institute United Greek Committee (UGC) – which represents the 12 fraternities and four sororities at the university – issued a scathing criticism of the hangover cure and the school’s apparent support.

In the statement, published in campus newspaper The Stute, UGC representatives asserted that the product “promotes destructive behavior and presents Greek Life in a negative light.”

According to the UGC:

“The article paints a negative picture of Stevens students. Specifically, the article targets the Greeks, appealing to them as a target audience to use and promote their product without consulting the members of the community. Had they asked the leaders of the community what we thought, we would have clearly stated our concerns with their intentions. We do not wish to be equated with such blatant attempts to perpetuate stereotypes… Fraternities and sororities at Stevens are continuously working for the betterment of society by raising money for charity, volunteering, and dedicating their lives to improving the lives of others.”

The UGC statement continues:

“The UGC reached out to the design team on April 18, 2016 requesting that they please remove any references to Greek Life from their publicity and to please readjust their target market and phrasing to avoid perpetuating negative stereotypes about the Stevens Greek community. The response we got from one of the team members... was ‘lol, yeah ok.’ We find this type of response disappointing, and frankly a bit rude and dismissive.”

The UGC also expressed concern over some of the social media-heavy marketing tactics of the HangoverLyte crew, which has its own Facebook page.

Some of the posts can be seen below.

READER POLL

What do you think? Is HangoverLyte a college students’ dream or does it “promote destructive behavior?”

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